On 20 November, Man Gui sent a large number of men to conduct a sentry on both sides of the road between Qianxi and Santun Camp, and the return was that there was no abnormality, and under the persuasion of Wu Xiang and others, he finally couldn't help but order to send troops to Santun Camp.

On November 21, Man Gui led 9,000 men and horses to arrive at the city of Santun Camp, looking at the few defenders in the city, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and said to the generals around him: "The Tartars have indeed fled, otherwise it would be impossible to leave only a few people at the head of the city."

If these Tartars were to fight us in the field, they would probably have to take a lot of effort, but if they fought with us to defend the city, they would be much worse. Vice General Wu will attack the South Gate, Vice General Zhang will attack the North Gate, and the others will attack the West Gate with me..."

As Man Gui said, the Later Jin army was very proficient in field tactics, but for defending the city, it was still in the apprenticeship stage. In particular, the troops mainly stationed in Santun Camp are still mainly Mongols. Although these Mongol soldiers were much more morale-boosting than the previous troops stationed in Qianxi County and the Ninja Pass, their tactics for defending the city were even more rudimentary than those of the Jurchens, and they only blindly relied on their own martial arts to resist the attack of the Ming army at the head of the city.

The Ming army besieged on three sides, and the number of troops invested reached about 3,000, and the Houjin soldiers stationed on the city wall were about 1,500. It was already convinced that the Houjin army began to withdraw from the pass, and the Ming soldiers in the Santun camp were only some soldiers of the Ming army who had broken off the rear army, and finally had no scruples, and devoted all their thoughts to the siege, trying to seize the first merit of the siege.

Although the Liaodong Ming army has always been afraid of field battles with the Later Jin army, it does not mean that the combat effectiveness of this army is much worse than that of the Later Jin army. These Liaodong soldiers who survived the war with Houjin for many years, although they are not as good as Li Chengliang's 8,000 families in terms of combat effectiveness, they are about the same as the Jurchen Eight Banners who are soldiers and enter for the people.

In history, when a peasant uprising broke out in Shaanxi and the Shaanxi border army was disabled, a part of the Liaodong Ming Army was transferred to Guannai to quell the rebellion. It's just that the Ming Dynasty at that time was already a momentum that was difficult to return, no matter how many peasant rebels were extinguished, there would be more people who couldn't survive, so in the end, the Liaodong Army that was only transferred to the pass was still dragged down little by little.

After the remaining Liaodong Ming army was led by Wu Sangui to surrender to the Manchus, they became the most vicious accomplices of the Manchus after entering the customs. Basically, the entire south of the Yangtze River was pacified by this army, in fact, after the Jurchen Eight Banners entered the customs, the combat effectiveness declined very quickly, and many vicious battles were gnawed down by the Ming army that surrendered to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The reason why the Liaodong Ming army is now often defeated in ten battles against the Houjin army is entirely because they have not spent most of their minds on combat, but on guarding against friendly forces. More than half of the several major defeats of the Liaodong Ming army and the Later Jin army were due to the escape of friendly troops, which led to the collapse of the battle line, and was finally won by the Later Jin army.

Therefore, the Ming army in Liaodong, whether it was a general or a soldier, cared much more about the movements of friendly troops than the Houjin army that fought against them. In this situation, it is already good that 10% of the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in Liaodong can give full play to three or four achievements.

Although there was also a power struggle on the Jin side, Nurhachi was extremely strict with the implementation of military discipline on the battlefield, and the Jurchen Eight Banners flinched when they went into battle, and they would be severely punished if they escaped. However, Houjin has always vigorously promoted and rewarded those who have made meritorious contributions on the battlefield. Therefore, after the Jurchen soldiers went into battle, they could fight with all their hearts and minds.

The half-hearted Liaodong Ming army met the single-minded Jurchen Eight Banners, and it would be strange if they could win. However, today under the city of Santun camp, this Liaodong Ming army put away other thoughts for the first time, and wanted to capture the city in front of it. Therefore, in just one hour, the Ming army attacking from the north of Santun Camp City had already occupied a position on the head of the city, and then the Ming army also appeared on the west city wall.

The Houjin soldiers stationed at the city wall began to withdraw from the city head and retreated towards the inner city of Santun camp. Near noon, the northern, western, and southern gates of the Santun camp city were opened by the Ming army, and the Ming army of the brigade began to enter the city, preparing to completely occupy the city, and victory seemed to be about to be held in the hands of the Ming army.

Regardless of the fierce fighting in the city, Man Gui entered the Santun camp city with his personal guards, and when he climbed the west gate tower of the Santun camp to watch the battle situation in the city, he faintly heard something from the east.

"Don't make any noise, give me some quietness." Man Gui, who felt a little bad, shouted to the soldiers who were still roaring excitedly beside him, the Liaodong soldiers who had won the Houjin army for a rare victory were standing on the city wall and shouting excitedly at the moment, but now they heard Man Gui's reprimand, and suddenly stopped celebrating the victory in surprise.

As soon as their shouting stopped, the distant sound became clearer, and the rumbling sound sounded like thunder in the east.

Most of these soldiers in Liaodong were veterans of war, and they hadn't noticed anything before, but once they quieted down and listened attentively, they soon heard the noise mixed with the sound of fighting all over the city, not thundering from the east, but a large cavalry force rushing to this side.

To the east of the Santun camp was the area controlled by the Later Jin, and from that there emerged a cavalry army, which was obviously unlikely to be the army of the Ming Dynasty. Listening to the sound of this cavalry running, Man Gui quickly determined that this army would not be less than 10,000 people.

He immediately turned around and looked out of the city, and found that nearly two-thirds of the troops he led were still outside the city, and he reacted in just a moment, and if he ordered to retreat now, I am afraid that before he had run 10 miles, it was estimated that the team would all be scattered. Instead, he ordered to speed up the entry of troops into the city, then occupy the outer city defenses, and then slowly clear the part of the inner city of Tartar, maybe it could save most of the people's lives.

After Man Gui made a decision in his heart, he immediately gave orders to several generals around him, asking to urge the troops outside the city to enter the city as soon as possible, and on the other hand, asking to temporarily slow down the attack on the inner city, so that Wu Xiang in the south and Zhang Hongmo in the north could transfer troops to seize the east gate first to prevent the Houjin reinforcements from seizing the gate.

When Man Gui was still deploying troops, the sound of horses' hooves from the east had completely suppressed the sound of fighting in the city, and the Ming army that was still fighting in the city suddenly began to hesitate, while the Houjin army, which was already at a disadvantage in the city, began to raise morale.

While fighting back against the Ming army that stopped attacking, these Houjin soldiers shouted loudly: The Ming army has been tricked, the Eight Banners army has surrounded this city, and those who want to live must drop their weapons and surrender, otherwise they will be killed.

Man Gui, who was standing on the tower of the West Gate City, looked at the retreating appearance of the Ming army in the city, and immediately gritted his teeth and instructed one of the generals beside him: "Cao Gongcheng, you take 300 people forward and beat these Tartars back to the inner city, and the others hurry up to announce the general's order, and those who dare to disobey will be engaged in military law..."

"Oh no, Dashuai, Wu Xiang's department in the south is fleeing outside the city... Wu Xiang had already abandoned his army and fled to the city gate. Meng Ji, who was holding a telescope to observe the battlefield, suddenly used his hand to guide the Ming army in chaos on the streets of the city and shouted loudly.

Man Gui's heart suddenly tightened, and he immediately shouted to Meng Ji and said, "Don't talk nonsense, Vice General Wu is also a battle-hardened person, and if he runs away now, won't he even ignore his own subordinates?" ”

Meng Ji looked into the telescope with a pale face, watching Wu Xiang rush to the south gate on horseback, swinging his knife and slashing several Ming soldiers who were at a loss in front of him. There were only more than a dozen family members guarding him, and even his son, who was known as the "Three Armies of Courage and Filial Piety", did not bring him with him.

Meng Ji did not continue to speak, but it did not mean that the others could not see the chaos of the Nancheng Ming army, and from the Nancheng Ming army, it sounded, "Defeated, defeated." The shouts have spread throughout most of the Santun camp city. Zhang Hongmo, who was in the north, had already begun to gather his men and horses and retreated towards the outside of the city.

Man Gui looked around at the generals around him, and found that they either kept looking towards the stairs of the lower city, or their faces were pale and they didn't dare to make a sound, and no one wanted to make eye contact with him. At this time, he also knew that his defeat was assured, and these generals were unwilling to fight to the death with the Houjin army here.

Man Gui's heart was suddenly like ashes, although he was born in a military family, but his family inherited an ordinary junior officer, and he was just a general banner when he joined the army. Although he had many meritorious achievements when he was young, he was only promoted to the position of Chaohe River garrison at the age of 30. After the Emperor of the Apocalypse ascended the throne, he was promoted again and again, and in less than seven years, he became the chief soldier of the town guarding the side.

Therefore, Man Gui was one of the most loyal border generals to the Emperor of the Apocalypse in the border army, and he was extremely sad after the death of the Apocalypse. For his younger brother King Xin, who was designated by the Apocalypse to inherit the throne, Man Gui believed that he should obey the edict of the previous emperor and turn his loyalty to Chongzhen.

After Chongzhen ascended the throne, he summoned Man Gui to Beijing to see him, and comforted him many times, giving him courtesy beyond the specifications. This made Man Gui greatly moved, and the original idea of repaying the favor by obeying the edict of the Apocalypse was soon transformed into a true allegiance to Chongzhen.

As the chief military officer transferred from foreign troops to Liaoxi Town, although Man Gui has the title of Liaodong Chief Military Officer and theoretically commands all the troops in Liaoxi Town, but the Liaoxi generals headed by Jinzhou General Soldier Zu Dashou do not recognize it, and the Ming army is a tradition of generals, so what Man Gui can lead is only a battalion of men and horses under his command.

It was with the support of Chongzhen, coupled with the reorganization of the army of Liaoxi Town by King Shangshu of the Ministry of War in Shanhaiguan in Jin, that Mangui mastered nearly half of the armed forces of Liaoxi Town, and was no longer the original empty general army that was squeezed by the Liaoxi Generals.

However, now because of his greed, the Ming army of Donglu was ambushed by Houjin, and Man Gui felt that if he went back alive, he really couldn't explain to Chongzhen.

Man Gui retracted his gaze, and then said decisively: "You each take the people of your headquarters to withdraw to the Ninja Pass, join Zhang Daotai, and be sure to hold the Ninja Pass." I am here to judge for you..."